This book investigates the interplay between China's social, economic, and educational policy changes, its rural households and urban communities, focusing on the resource-constrained rural environments, limited knowledge networks, and urbanization of parent support, student engagement in learning, teacher and student retention.

PART I: HOW RURAL FAMILIES SUPPORT AND THEIR CHILDREN'S EDUCATION 1. Credit Limits as an Element of Family Socioeconomic Status: An Application to the Case of Children's Educational Outcomes in Rural Gansu Province 2. Engendering a Love for Learning: Family and School Contexts and Children's Educational Engagement in Rural Gansu, China 3. Educational Differences in Parental Support for Children's Schooling in Rural China 4. Parental Involvement in Rural Anhui: Coping with the Burden of Guanxi PART 2: CHALLENGES FOR MINORITY YOUTH IN RURAL AREAS 5. "Two Basics" in a Rural Muslim Area of Northwest China 6. Exceptions to the Rule: Rural and Nomadic Tibetans Gaining Access to Dislocated Elite Inland Boarding Schools PART 3: CHALLENGES OF PROVIDING QUALITY EDUCATION IN RURAL COMMUNITIES 7. Universalization of Preschool Education in Rural Shanxi 8. Correlates and Implications of Grade Retention in Rural Northwest China 9. Schools as De Facto Childcare Centers: Adolescents' Lives and Educational Paths in Rural China PART 4: CHALLENGES FOR RURAL MIGRANT CHILDREN 10. Access and Equity for Rural Migrants in Shanghai 11. Migrant Education: Family Strategies and Public Policies